My Engine Swap in progress!

[poleclimber63]

Check in again...

Well, she's coming up to 320K km. Regular maintenance done. Just replaced one of my fog light housings-- lenses, Winter, rocks and snow are a tough thing... I'm not entirely happy with the light throw from my fogs 1.0, so I'm working on an addition... I'll post when I'm finished.

Everything else with the truck is running good, however, I see a small storm cloud on the horizon.... I spotted a rust spot the size of a pencil head on the rear bumper side skirt... horror! I have prided myself on the fact I have a rust free 4R!! I guess it was bound to happen sometime!

 

[alaskaflyer]

Great write up! I'm swapping a JDM into a 95 with a blown 3.0l. I don't have another 3.4 to compare side by side, but I'm sure I'll figure it out, I'll just go over your write up with a fine tooth comb. Thanks for putting in the effort!

 

[ennjay]

poleclimber63 Update?

Great thread! Super informative. I'm going thru a JDM swap right now. My original motor suffered a cracked head and blown hg at 277k miles. I picked up a JDM motor which came out of a HiAce van. Prices went up I guess. I paid $2700.
[MENTION=81614]poleclimber63[/MENTION] It's been a while, in fact almost over 10 years since your swap. How are things going today? Super curious as it's been years.

 

[JustTroItIn]

Love the updates. Keeps me optimistic.

I had to do an engine swap (non-jdm) over the summer. I only have about 2k on the engine since the swap (supposedly 130k motor), but so far so good.

 

[poleclimber63]

Great to see this forum is still active!

Love the updates. Keeps me optimistic.

I had to do an engine swap (non-jdm) over the summer. I only have about 2k on the engine since the swap (supposedly 130k motor), but so far so good.

My 4runner is still my primary vehicle! The swap I did is still running strong! The only hiccup I've had was a popped plug, cylinder 3, a couple of years back, which I Helo-coiled.. last year I spotted the first signs of frame rust, so I spent a couple of days wire brushing and applying "Surface Shield", a produce similar to Fluid Film... sprayed inside the frame rails well. Otherwise, she continues to purr... thanks for the response!

 

[poleclimber63]

Thanks for the response!

Love the updates. Keeps me optimistic.

I had to do an engine swap (non-jdm) over the summer. I only have about 2k on the engine since the swap (supposedly 130k motor), but so far so good.

It's great to see activity on this forum! I link people here whenever I can.
I'm hearing of more swaps for sure. The 3vz has a reputation of head gasket failures, and the 5vz seems to be cracking heads--- but not nearly as common as the 3vz headgasket failures. It's been 10yrs since my swap and it's still my main vehicle. In that time, I had to heli-coil cyl3, and I had a rubber fuel return line crack---- that's it! Last year, I did brakes for the first time since 12' when I did the TBU! AGAIN, thanks for the reply!

 

[JustTroItIn]

It's great to see activity on this forum! I link people here whenever I can.
I'm hearing of more swaps for sure. The 3vz has a reputation of head gasket failures, and the 5vz seems to be cracking heads--- but not nearly as common as the 3vz headgasket failures. It's been 10yrs since my swap and it's still my main vehicle. In that time, I had to heli-coil cyl3, and I had a rubber fuel return line crack---- that's it! Last year, I did brakes for the first time since 12' when I did the TBU! AGAIN, thanks for the reply!

I could only find two other examples online of what happened with my engine. The timing pulley bolt on the end of the drivers side cam broke off in the end of the cam. I first thought possibly oil starvation caused this, but looking back I'm pretty sure I would have heard some noise prior to the failure (there was no warning). I now suspect over torquing the cam bolt by a previous owner.

 

[poleclimber63]

Great thread! Super informative. I'm going thru a JDM swap right now. My original motor suffered a cracked head and blown hg at 277k miles. I picked up a JDM motor which came out of a HiAce van. Prices went up I guess. I paid $2700.

[MENTION=81614]poleclimber63[/MENTION] It's been a while, in fact almost over 10 years since your swap. How are things going today? Super curious as it's been years.

My 4runner is still my primary vehicle! The swap I did is still running strong! The only hiccup I've had was a popped plug, cylinder 3, a couple of years back, which I Helo-coiled.. last year I spotted the first signs of frame rust, so I spent a couple of days wire brushing and applying "Surface Shield", a produce similar to Fluid Film... sprayed inside the frame rails well. Otherwise, she continues to purr... thanks for the response!

 

[poleclimber63]

I could only find two other examples online of what happened with my engine. The timing pulley bolt on the end of the drivers side cam broke off in the end of the cam. I first thought possibly oil starvation caused this, but looking back I'm pretty sure I would have heard some noise prior to the failure (there was no warning). I now suspect over torquing the cam bolt by a previous owner.

I have not heard of a cam bolt breaking either. You're probably right about the over torquing. With the age of our 4runners, most have probably had multiple TB's replaced--- and seals.... I came across failing bolts last Fall, as in the middle of rebuilding my 94 Celica. I was in the wrecking yard pulling a S54 5 spd tranny, when I dropped it I discovered the flywheel still attached to the tranny. When I pulled the flywheel out, the flywheel bolt heads fell on the ground like confetti!! The only 2 explanations that could explain this is the engine locking up, or the bolts were over torque and the owner tried some burnouts... the clutch actually looked almost new... over torquing is definitely a thing!

 

[poleclimber63]

Great thread! Super informative. I'm going thru a JDM swap right now. My original motor suffered a cracked head and blown hg at 277k miles. I picked up a JDM motor which came out of a HiAce van. Prices went up I guess. I paid $2700.

[MENTION=81614]poleclimber63[/MENTION] It's been a while, in fact almost over 10 years since your swap. How are things going today? Super curious as it's been years.

Still running great! I've put 120k km since the swap. Aside from a bad injector, a helicoil and a cracked fuel line, no problems with the engine. I have replaced brakes (only once as I have the TBU!), totally rebuilt the front suspension-- all moving parts including bushings with the exception of the rack. Been through 2 sets of tires. A few spots of surface rust appeared last year so I soaked her down underneath(and inside the frame rails) with Surface Shield.